And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;
Parallel translations
- WEB He commanded them, saying, “This is what you must do: a third of you, who come in on the Sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;
- BSB and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall guard the royal palace,
- NKJV Then he commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall do: one-third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall be keeping watch over the king’s house,
- NASB And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house
- NLT Jehoiada told them, “This is what you must do. A third of you who are on duty on the Sabbath are to guard the royal palace itself.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jehoiada assigns one division to guard the royal palace on the Sabbath. The careful plan begins with detailed instructions.
Overview
The priest organizes the guards by their Sabbath rotations to protect the boy king. His precise arrangements show wisdom and order in carrying out God's purpose. Even the timing around the Sabbath duties is used to shield the heir of David, illustrating providence working through prudent planning.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Chr 9:25And their brethren, which were in their villages, were to come after seven days from time to time with them.
- Ezek 44:2–3Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
- 2 Kgs 11:19And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.
- Jer 26:10When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house.
- Ezek 46:2–3And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
- 1 Chr 23:3–6Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
- Luke 1:8–9And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
- 2 Kgs 16:18And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
- 1 Kgs 10:5And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.
- 1 Chr 23:32And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the LORD.
- 1 Chr 24:3–6And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 11:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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